RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- The case against a retired Ontario-Montclair School teacher accused of committing lewd acts with two children has been dropped after the court determined the man died in custody.

Gary Randall Schan, 62, was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Tuesday at the West Valley Superior Courthouse in Rancho Cucamonga. But according to court records, Deputy District Attorney Jason Anderson confirmed Schan's death and the case was dismissed.

The defendant was pronounced dead on March 10 in the jail ward of the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, officials said. At that time he was in custody at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

About two months earlier, on Jan. 7, Schan jumped from the top tier of a housing unit, said Jodi Miller, San Bernardino County sheriff spokeswoman.

"Schan sustained serious head injuries and was immediately transported to the hospital. He remained in the hospital in critical condition, receiving treatment for his injuries," until he died, Miller said.

An in-custody death investigation is being conducted, Miller added, and the Riverside County Coroner's office performed an autopsy.

Schan was arrested on Nov. 3 after one of his alleged victims reported he had inappropriately touched her while they were alone at his Ontario home. At the time of the incident, the victims, a boy and a girl relative, were 8 and 12 years old.

He previously pleaded not guilty to six counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child, according to court records.Schan retired about five months before he was arrested. He had worked for the Ontario-Montclair School District as a teacher and a substitute teacher for 35 years.